Red IPA - Riwaka

[Ben Dean]

Hi

I'm planning to brew a red IPA soon. I was initially thinking of doing a single hop Riwaka brew, has anyone done this with good results? Otherwise, I have Citra, Simcoe, Amarillo and East Kent Goldings sitting in my freezer, do any of these pair up well with Riwaka?.

Cheers

Ben

[Ben Dean]

Thanks for all the replies. Despite everyone's personal preferences the common theme here appears to be, don't use too much. With that in mind I'll build a hop schedule in the same way I do with Nelson Sauvin - always the backup singer, never the star. I won't be brewing this for a couple of weeks but will post the recipe when I'm done. Any other comments between now and then are welcome. Cheers.

[Crusader-Rob]

Please do, I'll be interested to see how your recipe looks.

FYI riwaka goes well with Citra. :)

[Ben Dean]

Bottled this today, it tasted great out of the fermenter although not as much aroma as I was hoping for. Maybe it will pop a bit more once carbed. Missed my OG by quite a bit, came out at 1.064 instead of 1.070, the White Labs Dry English Ale yeast chomped through it though and FG is 1.012!

Mash pH was a little on the low side too, 5.33 @ 25 deg C (so 5.03ish @ mash temp). Doesn't appear to have had any negative impact on the brew though.

Will report back once I've drunk a fizzy one.

[Ben Dean]

This has turned out great, lots of toffee like maltiness with a big fruity hop punch. Pours very clear with a lovely red hue. I'm going to enter it into the NHC but not sure if it will fit best in Red IPA or American Amber categories. Recipe is below.

Brewlength - 21.5L (this is the brewlength I entered into BIAB calculator but the dry hops drank 2 litres leaving me with 19.5L)
OG 1.064
FG 1.012
6.8% ABV
IBU - 61+
Mashed @ 150 deg F for 60min
Boil 90 min

Grain bill
Gladfield Ale - 85%
Redback - 7.5%
Gladfield dark crystal - 3%
Gladfield medium crystal - 2%
Gladiator - 2%
Gladfield roasted barley - 0.5%
Gladfield sour grapes - 1%

Hops
Pacific Jade 35g @ 60min
Simcoe 25g @ 30min
Riwaka 25g @ 10min
Amarillo 50g @ 10min
Riwaka 25g @ 0min
Amarillo 100g @ 0min
Simcoe 50g @ 0min
Amarillo 50g dry hop
Simcoe 25g dry hop
Riwaka 25g dry hop

Fermented at 19 deg C with White Labs Dry English Ale yeast 1L starter for 2 weeks, dry hops added after 1 week and left in for 1 week. Crash cooled for 1 week before bottling.

Thanks everyone who chipped in on this thread.